Title: Darien's Mistress Chapter 7
Author: Ashley
E-mail: Nuriko56@hotmail.com
Standard Disclaimer Apply
Darien stared at her. "Did I hear you right?"
"Is there something wrong with your hearing?"
"You know there isn't."
"Then you heard me right. But just to make it absolutely clear…I'm
paying you to do what I want--and I want to sit here and watch you strip."
"What kind of game is this, Serena?"
"You think it's a game? Perhaps it is. A turn-on game. The type of game
you like to play with me as a toy. Only now it's my turn to play it--and
you're the toy-boy," she added coldly.
Leaning against the door-jamb, Darien folded his arms, his eyes
intrigued, but an amused, mocking curl to his mouth. "And what if I don't
want
to play your games?"
"You don't have any choice." Her face hardened. "If you don't do what I
want, then you won't get paid, you won't be fed or clothed, you'll get kick
out. Are you getting the picture?"
His brows drew into a frown and an emotion she couldn't fathom showed
momentarily in his eyes, but then, his voice growing curt, he said, "Where
did
you get the money?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry, it isn't yours. It's mine. I earned it."
"Earned it? How? He asked on a suspicious note.
"Not how you think," she answered with contempt. "I wrote an article for
a magazine. I got paid five hundred dollars for it. And this is how I've
decided to spend it."
"You wrote a magazine article?" he said in surprise. "What about?"
"That needn't concern you. All that matters is that I have the money to
pay for your services. And five hundred dollars is really rather generous.
So
why don't you get started? Or do you want some soft lights and music to put
you in the mood? You don't usually bother with all that, of course, but I'm
willing to make a concession as this is your first time--the first time
you've
been used."
Darien's jaw hardened and a bleak look came into his eyes. His voice
rough, he said, "Do you really hate me that much?"
"Yes," Serena answered without hesitation, her chin rising.
For a moment longer he started at her, then he swung round to go out of
the room.
"Coward!" she yelled after him.
He stopped, turned to face her.
"Come back and find out what it's like! Come back and find out why I
hate you."
Slowly, Darien walked back into the room, his gaze fixed on her tense
face, on her eyes that seemed to burn into his. Serena sat back in her
chair.
"Now do it!" she said forcefully.
It was a full minute before he moved, then, almost as if it was against
his will, Darien's hands went up and he began to undo his tie.
When the idea for this had come into Serena's mind she had seen it as a
way of getting back at Darien, of punishing him even. Perhaps for being a
man,
and rich, and arrogant. For him thinking that he owned her. She'd wanted him
to know how it felt to be used. And she'd had intended just to sit there and
watch, devoid of any feeling, so that he would experience for himself what
it
was like to be just sex object.
But somehow it wasn't working out the way she'd planned. She'd to bury
feelings close to guilt when she'd taunted him for being a coward--inborn
emotions that she knew an emancipated woman ought not to have. Men were no
longer the master race, ruling women by their strength and the protection
that
strength gave them. All that was past and she had as much right to do this
as
he had--to humiliate him. Only there was no humiliation in his bearing as
Darien slowly took off his clothes. Instead there was irony in his eyes, in
the set of his jaw. And he watched her all the time, as if it were her who
was
on show, not him.
She had seen his naked body many times before and hadn't expected to
feel anything when she saw it now. But this slow uncovering of his tanned
skin, of muscles and broad chest, of legs and thighs, created an ache deep
within her that she hadn't bargained for. Her mouth felt dry, her chest
tight.
He just slowly took of his clothes, didn't pose of flex his muscles or act
in
any way like a male stripper, and yet she felt like a voyeur. But she
couldn't
look away. Neither could she meet the eyes that watched her so sardonically.
He revealed himself completely to her, arrantly male and not at all ashamed
of
his nakedness.
Serena's tongue crept between her lips, moistening a mouth that was
completely dry. "Now get on the bed," she ordered hoarsely.
"On the money?"
Now at last, her eyes came up to meet his. "Yes. On a bed of money.
That's where I want you, where you belong."
His jaw hardened and she thought that he was going to disobey her,
almost wanted him to, but then he crossed the room and lay on the bed. She
fumbled at her clothes, pulling them off anyhow, but Darien was looking up
at
the ceiling, ignoring her.
She knelt beside him on the bed and reached out to explore him, as she
had so often explored her, her hands stroking the softness of his skin,
caressing him intimately. He didn't touch her, just lay back and let her do
it, but his eyes were on her face all the time. Serena had carefully planned
what she was going to do next; she was going to arouse him, get him really
aroused, then tell him to go to hell--because she didn't want him after all.
The first part of the plan was more than successful: as she caressed him
Darien's hand tightened into fists. He shuddered with awareness, gasped,
then
gave another gasp that turned into a low moan.
"You want me, don't you?" she said softly, her hands still busy.
He had closed his eyes but now he opened them and looked at her. But he
didn't answer. Not that it mattered; his body spoke for him, spoke volumes!
Gathering up an armful of dollars, Serena scattered them over him.
"Well, you'll just have to make do with this--because I don't want you!" And
with a laugh of triumph she turned to swing herself off the bed.
Darien surged upwards in one movement and grabbed her round waist. "Oh,
yes, you damn well do!" he said forcefully, pulling her down beside him.
And she did. She did. Even though she resisted him at first, so they
rolled among the crumpled money, soon she was crying out in throbbing
excitement, clinging to him as she arched towards him, her body ever eager
for
the pleasure he could give, knowing that this was what had subconsciously
hoped for all along.
Usually, after they'd sex, Darien would hold her in his arms while their
pounding hearts quietened, until she rolled away from him to let him know
that
she didn't want to be close. But tonight he didn't attempt to hold her, just
got up and went into the bathroom to shower. Serena slowly sat up, looked
round rather dazedly at the dollar bills all over the bed and the floor.
What
was she supposed to do with them now? She wondered. Somehow it had gone
sour,
her clever idea. It was she who had been humiliated, not Darien. Yet again
she
had been betrayed by her own body.
Serena sat with her head in her hands for several minutes, then put on
her robe and, with a set face, began to pick up the money. She hated it now,
wished she'd never had such a crazy idea. When she'd picked up all the
bills,
she put them in a bag and stood staring at it; she almost felt like crying.
The wail of an ambulance out in the street filled the air, a sound do
familiar
now that she didn't usually take ant notice. Tonight, though, it reminded
her
that there were thousands of people far worse off, that her problems was
nothing in comparison. Her frowning clearing, Serena put the bag aside, to
be
given tomorrow to a place where it might do some good.
Darien came back into the bedroom, glanced at the bed, but made no
comment. He began to take fresh clothes from a drawer. "Hurry up and get
dresses," he said curtly. "I want to go out and eat."
She took a few steps towards him, and lifted a hand as if to put it on
his shoulder, an apology hovering on her lips. But Darien's back was turned
implacably towards her, and after a few moments Serena lowered her hand,
then
went into the bathroom to obey him.
Their relationship, or whatever you cared to call it, altered from that
day onwards. They still slept together and Darien still took her often, and
they went out for meals as before, sometimes with Darien's friends. He even
took her with him on a couple of business trips, where she didn't do him any
harm at all when it came to getting orders, her natural charm winning over
the
clients as much as Darien's sales pitch. But he had changed towards her, his
manner becoming more withdrawn, losing a lot of his humour and openness. It
was almost as if he was on guard all the time, watching his own words and
actions.
So what? Was Serena's first reaction. I couldn't care less. Maybe now
he'll let me go. But it was impossible just to disregard his manner,
impossible not to be affected by it. A tenseness grew between them, so that
it
was a relief when Darien went to the office. And yet Serena found herself
waiting for him to come home, and looking eagerly to see if he had changed,
hoping that he was his old self again. They'd used to talk together quite a
lot, about things that were in the news, even argue heatedly sometimes when
their viewpoints didn't agree. Now, though, they didn't talk much at all,
Darien often turning on the television set as soon as he returned in the
evening.
Serena felt snubbed and knew it was her own fault. Knew, also, that she
ought to be glad, but somehow wasn't. She didn't like this tense atmosphere,
this feeling of enmity between them. Only in his bed were they close, and it
was still good, but even there it wasn't quite the same. Darien never
attempt
to kiss her now, and always turned away afterwards, lying on his side with
his
back towards her, not holding her a moment longer than was necessary, not
murmuring words in Portuguese. In the mornings he got up and left her in
bed,
instead of making her get up and have breakfast with him as he'd used to.
She
didn't care, of course, but somehow she didn't sleep very well at nights,
which made her feel headachy and unwell the next day.
A week or so later, in the middle of the morning after Darien had gone
to work, Andrew turned up at the apartment. Darien hadn't mentioned that he
was coming to New York, but he had spent longer at the office the last
couple
of days and had gone out alone one evening. Andrew didn't telephone first,
just turned up on the doorstep. When Serena opened the door and saw him, she
stared in astonishment. Instinctively she knew that his coming could only be
bad news, so she went to slam the door, but he simply put his shoulder in
the
way and walked straight in.
With a sigh, she said, "Hello, Andrew," adding sarcastically, "Do come
in, won't you?"
His eyes swept round the flat before he turned to look at her, his mouth
set into a grim line. "Well, at least you haven't redone the place in
feminine
fripperies."
"Haven't emasculated it, you mean," she returned coldly. "Darien isn't her,
if
you're looking for him."
"I'm not. I know where he is." He sat down on the sofa. "It's you I came
to see."
She ought to have guessed that he'd turn up eventually, Serena supposed,
sitting opposite him. Mina must have gone running to him, and he would have
guessed that she'd looked in the safe. Had he told Darien? She wondered on a
sharp pulse of anxiety, and then couldn't understand why it mattered. Biting
her lip, she said, "What do you want?"
Andrew's eyebrows rose a little, and he gave her a searching look. "Are
you unwell?" he asked reluctantly.
She looked at him in surprise, unaware of the dark circles around her
eyes and the paleness of her cheeks that showed because she wasn't wearing
make-up this early in this day. "No, I'm fine," she told him, adding, "Thank
you," in some puzzlement because she hadn't expected him to ask or care.
Andrew frowned, but said brusquely, "You can guess why I'm here. We had
all hoped that by now Darien would have--would no longer be interested in
you."
Serena gave a short laugh. "You mean you hoped he would have got tired
of me and kicked me out; isn't that what you're trying to say?"
His eyes came up to clash with hers and she met them squarely. "Yes, I
suppose I am. We--his family--are concerned about him. We want him to live a
normal life."
"A normal life?"
"It's time he was setting down. Looking round for a wife."
She laughed again. "Darien had the reputation of being a womanizer; I
take it you'd rather he do that--play the field--than be with me. Is that
right?"
"You're no good for him, Serena. If you care about him at all---"
"I don't," she cut in, so curtly that Andrew's face tightened in
contempt.
"So you're in it just for the money!"
"What else? Come to that, what else is your family good for?" she added
insultingly.
His eyes blazed, but Andrew kept his temper. "I'm willing to pay you
fifty thousand dollars to leave him--and stay away from him," he said
curtly.
His words seemed to hit her like a blow in the stomach, made her feel
physically sick. Her face and jaw grew tense as she fought down nausea. She
had thought that words could never any more, but they did; that mattered
terribly. How dared this arrogant fool sit there and insult her like this?
How
could he despise her so much that he could even think that she would accept
his offer? But he did despise her; they all did. To them she was like
Malachite Sims, all those years ago--a nuisance to be bought off. Sitting
back
in her chair, the semblance of a smile on her face, she said over-brightly,
"No, thanks. I don't think so."
Andrew gave her a weary look. "I'm not here to haggle, Serena."
It would have been interesting to know how much he would have been
willing to go up, but she said, "Nor am I."
He gave her a glare. "What do you want?"
"From you?" Nothing."
After hesitating only briefly, Andrew said, "All right, I'll make it
sixty thousand." Opening his briefcase, he took out a typed document. Serena
smiled inwardly, knowing exactly what it would say. "In return you will have
to sign this undertaking that you won't bother Darien again."
He held the paper out to her but she didn't even bother to look at it.
"I don't think do."
Andrew's face hardened. "If you think you can get Darien to marry you,
then I can tell you now that you won't succeed. He may be besotted with you
at
the moment but he has enough sense to know that it won't last, and that no
way
would you be welcome in our family. So you would be much better advised to
take the money I'm offering you."
He was lying through hid teeth, of course. Serena knew there was no way
he would have made her this offer unless he was afraid Darien would commit
himself to her irrevocably. Although why he should think so she had no idea.
Darien had certainly never mentioned marriage, and she had made it plain
enough that to stay with him a moment longer than she had to was the last
thing she wanted. But that had been between the two of them, of course; to
outsiders, seeing the possessive way Darien treated her, their relationship
might seem completely different. It was ironical, really; here was she
longing
to leave and Andrew was offering her the money to do it. He would probably
know the combination of the safe and could get her passport out of it. There
was everything here she needed to get away from Darien and the Brodeys
forever.
Getting to her feet, she shook her head. "I'm not going to take your
money--and I'm not going to leave." She added the last deliberately to goad
him, to punish him for thinking that she could be bought.
"If you think you can push up the price, you're mistaken. That was my
last offer."
"I've already said no."
Still he stayed where he was. "I can make things extremely uncomfortable
for you, Serena." You would be wise to take the money."
"No, thanks." She looked down at him, wondering why she had thought him
so devastating when she'd first met him. OK, he certainly had classical good
looks, but his whole character seemed to lack warmth. She could never
imagine
him being obsesses with any woman, let alone being passionately in bed,
whereas Darien---Her thoughts broke off abruptly. Why on earth was she
thinking along these lines when neither cousin was of any interest to her?
"And please don't threaten me. Any harm you do to me will only do to
Darien--
and I'm sure you don't want that."
"Now who's doing the threatening? You may well regret this, Serena.
Remember that Darien could tire of you and throw you out at any moment."
She shrugged. "Perhaps."
"Then why take that chance? Why not take the money I'm offering and go
now?"
Seeking for some way to annoy him, she said, "Maybe he will marry me."
Contempt showed in every line of his face. "You'd marry someone you
don't love, just for money?"
Suddenly angry herself, Serena said fiercely, "I'm tired of living from
day to day. I want to have a future. Do you know what the biggest luxury in
my
life would be? To have something to look forward to. To know that I'll be in
the same place in five years' time, even in ten years' time. To know
that---"
She broke off, her hands clenching, and gave a short laugh. "Not that you'd
ever understand, of course--you Brodeys in your ivory towers.
For a long moment Andrew gazed up at her, then he got slowly to his
feet. "You're a strange girl, Serena. I could almost wish…" But then he
shrugged at his face hardened again. "Here's my card. You can reach me or
leave a message for me on this number. When you decide to take up my offer,
call me. But you'd better make up your mind soon because it won't be open
indefinitely."
She didn't attempt to take it so he reached out and put it in the pocket
of her blouse, brushing her breast. Her eyes blazed with fury, startling
him.
"Get out, Andrew. Just get out."
It took a while for her to shimmer down after he'd gone. She strode up
and down the room, thinking how little she deserved this, how much she hated
the Brodeys. Thinking about it, she was overcome by nausea again and had to
rush to the bathroom to be ill. She came out, still shaking, and made
herself
a cup of strong coffee, feeling miserable. Only then it occur to her that
she
had a hold over Andrew that she could have used to turn the tables on him,
to
threatened him in return. But the next second she knew she wouldn't have
done
so; she wasn't yet so desperate that she needed to throw the Brodey's dirt
in
their faces. It also intrigued her that Andrew hadn't brought up her
confrontation with Mina or questioned her about the knowledge of Malachite
Sims. She could only think that Mina hadn't told him, for reasons of her
own--
or because she had forgotten her teenage sweetheart altogether; that was far
more likely, Serena thought cynically.
When Darien came home he still said nothing about Andrew being in New
York. She could have told him that Andrew had been at the flat, about his
offer, and perhaps have stirred up some trouble between the cousins, but
Serena didn’t. She felt tired, drained, and strangely lonely. She could
almost
wish that Darien would talk to her again as he's used to; even sparring with
him would hardly have been better than this reserve that was building up
between them. At this rate Andrew would hardly have needed to bribe her at
all. It couldn't be much longer before Darien threw her out. But he was a
very
virile man; perhaps he was waiting to find someone else before he got rid of
her.
Serena didn't sleep ver well again that night, and crept out of bed to
go and sit on the sofa in the other room. She didn't switch on the lights,
but
sat in the darkness, lost in her own thoughts, wondering rather drearily
what
she would do when Darien finally tired of her.
The door to the bedroom opened suddenly, making her jump. Darien
flicked on the lights and strode into the room, stopped when he saw her. His
shoulders drooped, as if they'd been tense, but his voice was harsh as he
said, "What are you doing out here?"
"I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to disturb you."
He came over to her. He was wearing only a pair of silk sleeping-shorts,
his upper half bare. "Come back to bed."
Why she didn't know, but Serena held out her arms for him to pick her
up. He did so and she put her arms around his neck, her head against his
shoulder. She felt him stiffen, and let her lips trail down his throat. It
had
been a couple of days since they'd sex; he would want her now. Darien
carried
her to the bed and laid her on it, then went back to turn off the lights.
When
he returned, he stood looking down at her for a moment. Again, she held out
her arms to him.
Darien stared, frowned, said, "Serena?" on a hoarse note. She didn't
answer, just looked up at him, lips parted, her eyes enormous. He gave a
strange sigh, and the next moment was beside her and had taken her in his
arms.
She was still asleep when he left the next morning, but when she woke
Serena had to rush to the bathroom and was ill again. Only later, when she
looked at the breakfast she'd prepared and felt sick all over again, did it
occur to her to get out her diary and work out some dates. Then she stared
down at it, appalled; her periods weren't consistent---but she hadn't had
one
for two whole months!
But that was impossible; she was on the Pill. Maybe she had forgotten to
note one down. Serena thought back, trying to remember, growing more anxious
by the minute. Then it came to her; when she'd been ill the doctor had told
her to take no other medication while she was on antibiotics so she'd
stopped
taking the Pill for a couple of weeks. She'd started them again immediately
afterwards, of course, but perhaps there had been a few days when they
hadn't
been effective. It must have been then. Sitting at the breakfast-bar, Serena
stared into space, her heart and mind filled with dismay.
Her first thought was to blame herself for being such a fool. She should
have realised, should have known. The doctor should have warned her. But
there
was no point in allotting blame; it had happened and that was it. Now she
must
decide what to do. The first thing, she supposed, was to make absolutely
sure
that she was pregnant. OK, then what? Serena shied away from even thinking
about that. All she knew was that Darien would be absolutely furious with
her-
-and convinced that she had done it on purpose to try to trap him into
marriage. It came to her that her life was a mess, always had been and
always
would be. She was just like her mother--no good to herself or anyone else.
At the thought of her mother Serena's hands tightened and she had to
bite her lip hard. Resolutely she pushed the memories aside, dressed, and
went
out to try and find a place where she could have a discreet pregnancy test.
A couple of hours later Serena was sitting in a park feeling close to
hysterical laughter. She had the addresses of several places where she could
go, but found that she didn't have enough money for the test. And she had
given away a whole five hundred dollars only days ago! Now she would have to
wait until Darien gave her some more spending money. Although that might be
some while if he thought she still had the fee for her article. The only
other
way she could get her cash quickly was by selling some of her clothes, which
she was reluctant to do: she had bought expensive things of good, classical
design that were destined to last for several years, until long after Darien
had tired of her. Things that she could wear to work once she got a job.
Or at least that had been the idea; now everything had changed. When
Serena got to her feet, there was only one thing she was sure of: no matter
what the result of the test, no matter how ill she felt, she must conceal
this
from Darien. No way did she want him to accuse her of setting out to trap
him.
She could imagine his voice, almost hears the words he would hurl at her--he
and his cousins. Serena smiled grimly; Andrew would think she'd done it
deliberately to push up the price.
She had intended to ask Darien for some cash that evening, but when she
got back to the apartment she found a message from him on the answering
machine saying that he wouldn't be home till late. Was he having dinner with
Andrew, or with another woman? She ought to hope it was the latter, that he
would soon get rid of her for someone else. Then she could take her money
and
get out of his life before he found out what had happened. But somehow the
thought of Darien with another girl--taking her out, putting a possessive
hand
on her shoulder, making love to her in their bed---Their bed? Since when had
it been that? It was Darien's bed, nothing to do with her. But the mental
pictures aroused new angry emotions within her, emotions so unfamiliar that
it
took her a couple of days to realise they were born of jealousy.
She pretended to be asleep when he got home late that evening, and by
staying in bed the next morning until after he had left for the office she
was
able to hide the bout of morning sickness from him. The day seemed a very
long
one, but when Darien came home she was devastated to find him much warmer
towards her than he had been recently. He came in, kissed her on the cheek
and
told her she looked gorgeous. She hadn't expected this, had expected him
still
to be withdrawn and cool, and it took a few minutes to realise that it must
have been the night before last, when she had welcomed him into her arms,
that
had changed him.
Serena didn't know whether to be pleased or sorry. To her that night
seemed light-years away, and she didn't feel that she could cope with his
new
behaviour. But, anxious to hide her worries, she somehow managed to pretend
to
be very animated and witty when they went out to their favorite restaurant
to
eat, putting on an act as she had so often done before. It pleased Darien;
he
laughed a lot and was happy. So maybe there wasn't some other girl. The
profound feeling of relief that swept over made Serena realise at last that
she'd felt jealous. But that was, of course, ridiculous. She hated Darien,
so
how could she possibly feel jealous about him?
It was a question she had to put aside because Darien was talking and
she had to concentrate on what he was saying. He liked her to be attentive,
and as he was telling her about a business trip to Mexico he was
planning--for
both of them--it was more than easy to listen and exclaim with apparent
pleasure. They sat over their coffee for a while, but it was too hot to go
dancing or to a club, and they went straight from the restaurant to the
apartment.
When they got there Serena, not wanting to ask him directly for money,
said casually, "I've run out of cab fares."
Darien looked amused and merely said, "I suppose you spent the money you
got for your article?"
"Yes."
"You never told me what the article was about."
"Oh, nothing that would interest you--just feminine stuff."
"Where's the magazine?"
"It hasn't come out yet. I was paid on acceptance, not on publication."
Taking out his wallet, he fished out a hundred-dollar bill. "Is this
enough?"
"Yes, thanks."
He was sitting on the sofa, watching motor-racing, but he held out his
hand to her, and when she put hers into it he pulled her down beside him.
Then
he put his arm around her and held her comfortably against him.
It was a very small gesture, one that he had probably made lots of times
in the past, when she would have reacted stiffly, unwillingly doing what he
wanted. But lately, since that time with the dollar bills, he hadn't been at
all friendly towards her, and his holding her close now made her realise
just
how much she had missed it. Her eyes were on the screen but she was blind to
the cars racing around the track, was only aware of the strength of the arm
with which he held her, the cool tang of his aftershave, the solidness of
the
body against her own. When he finally threw her out, she would never be with
him like this again, never be held in the safety and strength of his arms
again.
At the thought, a feeling of utter desolation filled her, an emotion so
intense that she wanted to cry out against it. She wanted to throw her arms
round him and beg him to hold her, hold her and never ever let her go!
Closely
her eyes tightly, Serena had to dig her nails into her palms to stop herself
from doing it, to keep herself still beside him. After a long, long moment
she
slowly opened her eyes and relaxed her hands. Now she knew why she had felt
so
lonely these last weeks, why she had been jealous. Somewhere along the line
she had made the fatal mistake of falling in love with the man who had
bought
her, the man she hated.
When the race ended, Darien flicked off the set, turned and kissed he
neck. "Let's go to bed," he said, his voice heavy with need.
But Serena shook her head and lied to him. "It isn't a convenient time."
He groaned, but accepted it, and when they got into bed he contented
himself with caressing her breasts, and soon afterwards fell asleep. But
Serena lay awake a long time, silent tears coursing down her cheeks, knowing
that she was in such an emotional state that if they'd made love tonight she
would have told him everything. About being pregnant, about loving him, even
about her past, everything.
The next morning she phone the nearest clinic and made an appointment
for the following day. When she kept it they told her it would take five
days
for the result of the test. Normally it would only take three days but that
was Thursday and no one worked over the weekend.
Luckily Darien went to office the next day, and the following morning
he'd arranged a game of squash with a friend. Usually she went with him to
watch, but that day she refused, saying, truthfully, that she felt unwell.
Thinking it was because she had her period, Darien happily went alone. For a
while Serena stayed in bed, fighting the nausea, telling herself it was all
the mind. She got up to dress, but then had to rush into the bathroom and
hang
over the loo.
When she flushed it and turned around, Darien was there. He was staring
at her, a stunned look in his eyes, and it was perfectly obvious that he had
guessed the truth. But he did what she had done---went to her bag and
emptied
the contents on the bed, grabbed up her diary and flicked open to run his
eyes
over the pages. Serena cleaned out her mouth, then took a shower before
going
into the bedroom to pull on some clothes.
Darien was waiting for her in the sitting-room, pacing up and down, his
face like thunder. "How long have you known?" he demanded curtly.
She didn't try to lied or to pretend; there was no point. "I don't. Not
officially."
His head came up at that. "You haven't had a test?"
"Yes, but I haven't had the result yet."
"When will you get it?"
"Tuesday. They said to come back Tuesday," Serena answered, pushing back
a lock of hair.
"I thought you were on the Pill!"
"I am---I was---but I had to stop taking it for while I was ill."
He opened his mouth, and she just knew he was going to accuse her of
lying, of having done this deliberately. She braced herself to take it, but
he
suddenly swung away and took an address book from the drawer of his desk,
flicked open and made a call. Evidently it was to his doctor. He spoke to
him,
asked him where he could get a pregnancy test done immediately. "Yes,
today,"
he said. "And I want the result today." He noted down the number he was
given,
dialed it, spoke, made the arrangements he wanted, then said, "Thanks. We'll
be right over."
Dropping the receiver, he caught her hand and hurried her outside to
whistle up a yellow cab. When they were in it, she said dully, "I thought
you
were playing squash."
"My opponent rang the club to say he couldn't make it, so I let someone
else had the court." Darien gave a grin smile. "I thought I'd hurry back so
we
could go out somewhere for the day, spend it together." He laughed. "But I
sure as hell didn't think we'd be spending it like this!"
She had nothing to say to that, even staying silent while she had the
test done. When she came out Darien was reading a notice on the wall that
said
that the clinic did terminations seven days a week. The receptionist said,
"We'll phone you as soon as we have the result. It will take about an hour."
Darien seemed about to say that they'd wait, but then walked ahead of
her out into the street. He sat forward in his seat in the taxi on the way
back, clasping and unclasping his hands, his face grim and remote. Serena
found she couldn't bear to watch him, and sat gazing unseeingly out of the
window. It was a lovely day, hot and sunny, but with enough breeze to make
it
really pleasant. Children enjoying the weekend with their parents were out
in
the park being pushed on swings or playing baseball. Family cars loaded with
leisure stuff were heading out of the city.
When they got back to the flat, Darien made them both a drink, pouring
himself a double gin and tonic. He gave a glass to Serena but he had
forgotten
to put any gin in it. Then be began to pace up and down again while she sat
silently in the chair. The burr of the phone, when it finally came, sounded
stridently loud. Serena jumped, although she'd been expecting it, and Darien
strode over to pick up the receiver.
He said, "Yes," a few times, then replaced it. slowly he turned towards
her.
Her eyes wide and tense in her pale face, Serena waited for him to
speak. When he didn't she said impatiently, "Well? What did they say?"
His voice sounding strange, Darien said, "The result was positive.
You're definitely pregnant."
She got to her feet feeling as if this wasn't really happening to her,
that in a moment she would wake up from this bad dream. Still he didn't
speak,
and she had to force herself to say in an unsteady voice, "So---so what
happens?"
Darien's eyes met hers, cold and bleak. Harshly he said, "There's only
one thing that can be done---isn't there?"
She stared at him, knowing he meant an abortion. "Yes," she answered
curtly, fighting the pain in her heart. "There is." Then she walked past him
and out of the flat.
***********************************************************
Ok folks, thank you for hanging in there. We have one more chapter to go and
this story will end. Thanks again for your patient and those who've e-mailed
with such nice compliments and encouraging words.
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